I've been going to Bumrungrad Hospital for the past 8 years, every three months to see my Internest, Dermatologist and Opthamologist. I've been through chemo and radiation for throat cancer and numerous other procedures. I have a retiree medical plan in the states that reimburses most of my procedures and medications. I take some sophisticated (and expensive) medications as prescribed for a typical 78 year old male. I schedule my appointment for the same day and travel to Bangkok the day before and return home the day after. Travelling has become tiresome and expensive (hotel, food, taxi, etc.)

I would like to continue my medical care in Nakhon Sawan since it's only and hour away from my village. I've previously used Srisawan Hospital for some issues and I am aware of other facilities that have Farang patient care. I am looking to transfer all my medical issues to Nakhon Sawan and am asking if you have any knowledge about doctors and facilities in that area. I can post this on the forum if you prefer other wise I will keep this private between us.

Thank you for any advice you can give.

First of all - you are not going to get the same level of care in Nakon Sawan as is available in Bangkok. Whether this matters at all, and if so how much, depends on the specific need/issue. Many things can likely be handled satisfactorily in province but not everything. In particular I would not recommend follow up related to your throat cancer to be done in Nakhion Sawan. So you may need to revise your expectations from receiving all care in a  local hospital, to rather using local hospitals for many, but not all, needs. You are also going to find that doctors upcountry (and for that matter, even sometimes in Bangkok) often do not review past records much anyhow i.e. there is not as much advantage to getting care ta the same place as one might expect, especially in upcountry locations.

 

An added consideration is the need for documentation, in English  for insurance purpose; this is often impossible to get from provincial government hospitals (though on the other hand, their charges are low).

 

In Nakon Sawan, the only private hospitals of any size are (1) Srisawan Hospital and (2) PRINC Hospital (Princpaknampo).

 

Srisawan has a website in English and it is possible from that to see what doctors are there, but not any details on qualifications.  https://srisawan.com/en/doctors

PRINC website is only in Thai but if you open it in Chrome you can get English translation.  Here too, no information on doctor qualifications. But on both hospitals' websites you can at least  identify area of specialization...and pretty much all the specialist doctors up there are likely to be young without   any training abroad, because that is simply the reality with upcountry locations unless located near a University with a medical program, which is not the case in Nakon Sawang.

 

The main government hospital in the town,  Sawanpracharak, is a regional level facility and certainly where to go in an emergency.  Like most government hospitals at this level it has 2 tracks of care, the main public channel where waits are very long  and most interaction is with medical students or interns/doctors in training (often not speaking much English), and an "after hours" clinic where you can directly access (comparatively) more senior doctors for a few hundred baht more, this latter is much to be preferred unless your condition is emergent enough to warrant going in through the Emergency Room. However even these more senior doctors will not always speak English, and the nurses and clerks will usually speak none. It may also be difficult, if not   impossible to get medical summaries and receipts in English from the government hospital,  which may affect your ability to claim insurance reimbursement.

 

Probable that the doctors at Srisawan and PRINC are the same doctors you would find at  Sawanpracharak, and given that you have insurance makes sense to use these instead. 

 

I assume you already know that most medications, including heart medications etc, can be bought directly at a pharmacy in Thailand without prescription.  If you have been going to a hospital instead in order to get it paid for by your insurance, then using either of the above private hospitals may work for you, but you might want to still come in to Bangkok say once a year or so for more comprehensive review of your conditions. You can tell the specialists in Bangkok that you will be getting routine follow up in your province and ask them to give you written recommendations accordingly that you can share with local doctors.

 

If your visits to dermatologists involve skin cancer, this is not something that you can get well addressed In Nakon Sawan. See this thread currently running  

https://aseannow.com/topic/1372276-best-dermatologists-for-possible-skin-cancer-on-nose/

 

If I knew what your various hospital visits are for (other than med refills), I could give more specific advice.